Astronomers Find Rare Triple-Star Planet (phys.org) 28
Phys.org is reporting the discovery of a rare planet with three different stars in its sky, two distant stars orbiting each other and a closer third star which would appear 40 times as large as our sun. Two robotically controlled telescopes -- one in Arizona, one in South Africa -- determined the gas giant planet KELT-4Ab was orbiting two separate stars which had always appeared to be one. The brighter third star will make it easier to study both the star itself and the nearby planet. "Known planets with three stars appearing in their sky are rare," reports Phys.org," adding "this new discovery is just the fourth, and it has caused excitement in the space community because it is the closest one yet, allowing for a better look than has been possible with the other finds."
"The environment in which this planet exists is quite spectacular," add Maciej Konacki from the California Institute of Technology, telling Space.com that "With three suns, the sky view must be out of this world -- literally and figuratively."
"The environment in which this planet exists is quite spectacular," add Maciej Konacki from the California Institute of Technology, telling Space.com that "With three suns, the sky view must be out of this world -- literally and figuratively."
DO NOT BROADCAST (Score:5, Funny)
do not repeat DO NOT send them a signal
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LOOKING AT YOU CHINA
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You can't blame China for this one. China has five stars [wikipedia.org], not three, and most of 'em look like yellow dwarfs to me.
(ffs that was unintended and truly beyond the pale)
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What's "Whoosh" in Chinese?
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I'm not sure, whenever I'm in China I'm more concerned with things not going over my head. Door posts and such.
Wait. Did I just fall for one of those lame "Wu is Chinese" jokes? :-(
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No, but, putting you out of your misery, you haven't read "The Three Body Problem".
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do not repeat DO NOT send them a signal
Too late. What's the worst that could happen?
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Pitch Black? (Score:3)
Not afraid of the dark, are you?
(yes, it was a satellite of a ringed gas giant that orbited in a system with three suns: a red dwarf and a white dwarf which co-orbited outside the orbit of the planet M6-117 (the desert planet) and a blue giant in the barycentre. I think).
Damn. I'm a geek.
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oh yes. I don't think they could top Katee Sackoff getting her kit off tho. :D
SPOILER ALERT!
Thrace gets nekkid.
Gas giant ... (Score:2)
... with mountains?
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The picture is for another planet in a triple-star system. The caption reads:
This artist's concept of HD 1885 Ab, the first known planet to reside in a triple-star system, would have a similar sunset to KELT-4Ab. Both systems host a pair of stars distantly orbiting the planet-hosting single sun. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-04-planet-triple-star.html#jCp
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The picture is for another planet in a triple-star system.
Jeez. Things must be bad if they're even skimping on artist's concepts now :-(
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If you can see mountains on one and (at most) a faint diffused glow on the other then the sunsets are hardly similar, are they?
Only three stars? (Score:5, Funny)
Phys.org is reporting the discovery of a rare planet with three different stars in its sky
That's nothing. I just looked out of my window and saw hundreds.
Gentleman Astronomer Holds out for Five Stars (Score:1)
Unimpressed with the nearby Three Star planet, the gentleman Astronomer holds out for a Five Star Planet.
Asimov's Nightfall (Score:3, Informative)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightfall_(Asimov_short_story_and_novel)
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The Nightfall trilogy is one of Asimov's greats right up there with the Foundation series.
No Dark Crystal references? (Score:2, Funny)
Sheesh am I old or what!
Artist's Impression (Score:2)
The artist who drew the "artist's impression" of the planet clearly missed the bit about it being a gas giant.
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Nope, that's definitely a gas giant in the upper left. The general rule of artist's impressions of exo-planets is to draw them from an outside position, in this case a moon orbiting the planet, not from the surface of the planet.
Phys.org buggered up the caption, but the link to space.com got it right from the original NASA page in '05. http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/newworlds/threesun-071305a.html [nasa.gov]